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Show Development Sought On llaiparoviitz Officials of Southern Califor-. Califor-. nia Edison Company met with the Utah State Land Board in Moab May 20 to discuss the , possible future of vast coal holdings on the Kaiparowitz Plateau in light of the recent decision to scrap the proposed ' power plant there. Richard K. Sager, a Salt . Lake attorney representing Southern California Edison, stressed that the decision to drop plans for construction of the power plant was made by the power companies, not the holders of coal resources. He said that some $20 million had been sunk into Kaiparowitz, about $14 million of which has gone into the coal site alone. Although he termed plans for the coal "very tentative," he outlined some possibilities for developing develop-ing the coal which would not involve a power plant. The slurry of coal from the deep underground mines to a power plant in some other location was one alternative. He dwelled longer, however, on the possibility of construct- ing a coal gasification or liquification plant. He requested request-ed the Land Board to "consider maintaining its agreement on site selection-Nipple selection-Nipple Bench," for a possible gasification plant. Coal reserves held total, according to Sager, 840 million tons. He added, there are "almost a billion tons of coal down there that we want tc develop." He also indicated that watei right applications have beer extended by the Utah State Engineer through August 1, 1976, and that either a slurry or gasification plant would require less water and emit fewer pollutants than a powei plant. However, a news release issued May 21 by the Utah Bureau of Land Management stated that all right-of-waj applications by Southern California Cali-fornia Edison and others relating to the proposed powei project now have been withdrawn with-drawn by the companies, and that the cases are officiallj closed. Paul L. Howard, State BLM Director, said these rights-of-way were associated with the Kaiparowitz coal mining project pro-ject as well as the proposed power plant and supporting activities. Involved were rights -of-way for power lines, watei lines, conveyor belts, and access roads to other facilities, |